Nicole Winfield

Nicole Winfield is an author at Religion News Service.

All Stories by Nicole Winfield

Pope cancels trip to Dubai for UN climate conference on doctors’ orders while recovering from flu

By Nicole Winfield — November 29, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope revealed Sunday that he had lung inflammation but said at the time that he still planned to go to Dubai.

For this group of trans women, the pope and his message of inclusivity are a welcome change

By Trisha Thomas and Nicole Winfield — November 21, 2023
TORVAIANICA, Italy (AP) — For the marginalized trans community of Torvaianica, it was just the latest gesture of inclusion from a pope who has made reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community a hallmark of his papacy.

Pope Francis removes a leading US conservative critic as bishop of Tyler, Texas

By Nicole Winfield — November 11, 2023
ROME (AP) — Strickland, 65, has emerged as a leading critic of Francis, accusing him in a tweet earlier this year of “undermining the deposit of faith.”

The pope’s absolute power, and the problems it can cause, are on display in 2 Vatican trials

By Nicole Winfield — October 19, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — On Thursday, the Vatican’s long-running financial fraud, extortion and corruption trial resumes, with defense attorneys offering final arguments ahead of a verdict expected before the end of the year.

Pope suggests blessings for same-sex unions possible in response to 5 conservative cardinals

By Nicole Winfield — October 3, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Francis’ letter marks a reversal from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's 2021 noting saying the church couldn’t bless gay unions because “God cannot bless sin.”

Pope decries indifference toward migrants, as he prays for the dead in the French port of Marseille

By Sylvie Corbet and Nicole Winfield — September 22, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis' two-day visit to Marseille is aimed at sending a message well beyond the Catholic faithful to Europe, North Africa and beyond.

Catholic-Jewish research backs reports Catholic convents sheltered 3,000-plus Roman Jews during WWII

By Nicole Winfield — September 8, 2023
ROME (AP) — Researchers from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust research institute and Rome’s Jewish community released the findings at an academic workshop Thursday.

Ukraine’s Catholic bishops tell pope that his praise for Russia’s imperial past ‘pained’ Ukrainians

By Nicole Winfield — September 7, 2023
ROME (AP) — While thanking Pope Francis for his prayers, Ukraine’s Greek Catholic bishops said certain statements and gestures from the pope and the Vatican “are painful and difficult for the Ukrainian people, who are currently bleeding in the struggle for their dignity and independence."

Pope says a revised environmental encyclical will be released Oct. 4, feast of St. Francis of Assisi

By Nicole Winfield — August 30, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Francis recently revealed he was writing a “second part” to the document “to address current problems.”

Vatican seeks to tamp down outrage over pope’s words of praise for Russian imperial past

By Nicole Winfield — August 29, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican spokesman said Francis merely wanted to praise the positive aspects of Russia’s spiritual and cultural history when he exalted Russia’s imperial rulers Peter and Catherine the Great.

Pope announces World Youth Day to return to Asia in 2027, urges young people ‘not to be afraid’

By Helena Alves, Barry Hatton, and Nicole Winfield — August 7, 2023
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — News that Seoul, South Korea would host World Youth Day in 2027 was a reflection of the continent's increasing importance to the Catholic Church, given the church is young and growing there, whereas it is withering in traditionally Christian lands in Europe.

Pope gets an electrifying World Youth Day welcome and urges fighting for economic justice, climate

By Helena Alves, Barry Hatton, and Nicole Winfield — August 4, 2023
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The pope, who was hospitalized twice this year, had said he hoped to be “rejuvenated” by his five-day trip to Portugal, and it appeared as if the sun-baked crowd delivered.

Vatican and Vietnam agree to open resident Holy See office in Hanoi, as relations improve

By Nicole Winfield — July 28, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Vietnam formally agreed Thursday to let a Vatican representative live in the country and open an office, a notching up of relations that could have implications down the line for the Holy See’s delicate ties with China.

Vatican is moving ahead with plan to reunite Ukrainian children taken to Russia with their families

By Nicole Winfield — July 24, 2023
ROME (AP) — The effort follows an explicit request by Ukraine and Russia has expressed an apparent willingness to engage in the process.

Prosecutor cites risky investments as ‘grave’ violations, in closing of Vatican financial case

By Nicole Winfield — July 20, 2023
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi opened two weeks of hearings to summarize his case by accusing officials in the Vatican secretariat of state of committing “grave violations” of internal norms and canon law.
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